


A Meaning for Flowers

by SpaceWall



Series: Love and Flowers [1]
Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Hopeful Ending, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2017-08-28
Packaged: 2018-12-20 18:27:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11926677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceWall/pseuds/SpaceWall
Summary: Inspired by a scene in the S1 episode When The Bow Breaks, featuring pining, pining, and the most emotion-filled starship since James T. Kirk was a Captain.





	A Meaning for Flowers

When Geordi bumps into Data the day after they get the children back, he’s holding a small flower and staring wistfully at it. He’s giving off a bit of a rejected-lover-in-a-bad-holovid vibe, and a bit of confused-bird kinda look. For a second, Geordi wonders if he should just leave the man be. Better to let sleeping dogs lie. Then Data looks up at him, and that thought goes right off the ship. After all, what’s a mystery if nobody’s going to solve it? Can’t let Data look wistful all on his own, can he?

“Hello, Geordi.” For someone who ‘doesn’t feel emotions’, Data looks remarkably pleased to see him.

“Hey, Data.” Better now than later. “Where’d you get the flower?”

Data looks down at the flower like he’s forgotten that he’s holding it. When he next speaks, it’s like the answer must be already obvious. “From Commander Riker.”

Geordi is sure that it must be the face he makes that sets an Ensign on her way down the hall into peals of laughter. “Do I even want to know?”

“I do not know, Geordi, what may or may not you wish to know?”

“Why did Commander Riker give you a flower- come to think of it, where did Commander Riker get a flower?”

“Commander Riker received the flowers from the Captain, who received the flowers from the Aldeans. When I spoke to him to enquire about the traditional role of the giving of flowers in human society as gestures of thanks or romance, he suggested I conduct my own experiments and presented a flower to me so that I could conduct them. While this would not provide me with answers about the role giving of flowers plays in his relationship with the captain, I may be able to obtain a larger sample size and form conclusions accordingly.”

It takes Geordi a second to process this. “You asked Commander Riker if him and the captain were exchanging flowers in a romantic relationship.”

“Yes, Geordi.”

It takes all of Geordi’s willpower not to laugh in Data’s face. That would be cruel, and he respects Data far too much to laugh at him for something he can’t help. It would be like laughing at a baby animal for not knowing how to stand right. Data’s quirks mostly fail to register these days, but of all the people on the ship to assume are in a romantic relationship, Riker and the Captain really takes the cake.

“What did he say?”

“As I previously said Geordi, he advised me to conduct my own analysis of human gift giving and the significance of flowers.”

Riker, phrase something to Data so kindly? If that were true, Geordi would eat his whole uniform. Commander Riker may be a good officer, but he has less tact then any Klingon, Vulcan or other non-Human that Geordi’s ever met. It’s almost ironic, how tactless the Commander finds Data, when you think about how tactless everyone else finds the Commander. Geordi is well aboard this train of thought when something else strikes him.

“He didn’t deny being in a romantic relationship with the captain?”

“No, Geordi.”

“That’s weird.”

“I do not find it so. The Captain did present Commander Riker with flowers, which are a common gesture of romantic affection, at least as I understand it.”

Geordi nods. “They are. But the Captain didn’t give Riker flowers. He just handed them to Riker to hold while he spoke to the Aldeans. Flowers are romantic when you bring them to someone with the intent to express romantic affection. They don’t carry the meaning in themselves, the meaning’s all in the delivery. Flowers can mean anything. ‘Get well soon’, or ‘Thanks for saving me from being kidnapped’, or ‘Welcome to our world’. Anything. When the Captain gave him those flowers, it meant ‘Hold onto these while I talk to diplomats’.”

“Normally, I would assume your knowledge to be correct, Geordi. However, it has been days and Commander Riker still has the flowers. If he is, as you say, ‘holding onto’ these flowers for the Captain, one or both of them must have forgotten the initial intent of the transfer of the gift. Perhaps it is because they’ve been so busy.”

And isn’t that just a curveball? If Captain Picard had just wanted Riker to hold the flowers for a moment, why does he still have them? Mentally, Geordi reassess the relationship he sees at work every day. Could it be? It doesn’t seem likely, given the Commander’s fondness for Counsellor Troi. After all, those two so clearly share a connection that aliens periodically assume they’re married. For all his flaws, Riker would never cheat on her with the captain. But on the other hand, the Captain places so much value on being professional that there’s no way he’d ever say that he was in love with Riker. Hell, maybe Riker didn’t even know, and Data had just stumbled into the biggest piece of gossip on the Enterprise.

“Who even knows, Data? With chaos like this, it’s a wonder we’re not forgetting things all over the place. Better to just let those two be.”

Over the next couple days, Geordi tries, and fails, to follow his own advice. Now that Data’s pointed it out to him, he begins to see Captain Picard and Commander Riker flirting all over the ship. Sly smiles exchanged on duty, sweet glances when one of them leaves the bridge. It reminds Geordi entirely too much of his time at the academy for comfort. To top it off, he thinks Troi must be noticing too. Every time he glances over his shoulder at her, she seems to be looking between Commander Riker and the Captain like she’s trying to decide which one of them would look better in their wedding suits. It’s deeply disconcerting. The one godsend is that Data isn’t still asking him about it. He thinks he might actually die trying to explain the idea of an unrequited-but-mutual crush to someone on whom he has an unrequited crush.

That’s when he gets the flowers. Intellectually, he knows they must be from Data. There’s nobody on the ship who he’s ever talked about the giving of flowers with before. No ex-lover or former flame who would send them. Emotionally, he can’t quite wrap his head around it. And Data never says anything. Just leaves a bouquet outside the door and goes about his day. What do you even do with that? What do you say? For a solid second, Geordi thinks about talking to Counsellor Troi. Then he remembers the discerning looks she gave the Captain and Commander Riker, and shudders at the idea of that gaze fixed on him and Data. So, then what? 

Flowers can mean anything, he thinks. Great advice, Geordi. Awesome. What do flowers with no context mean when you get them anonymously from your best friend who is also an android who you work with most days of the week? Christ.

It is in this moment of despair, having rejected the idea of Counsellor Troi for the third time in as many hours, that he ambushes Commander Riker in the hall. Well, ambush is a harsh word, but Geordi is getting desperate now, and Riker is in some convoluted way at fault for all of this.

“What do flowers mean?”

“I’m sorry?” Riker looks confused, and almost tilts his head. It makes him seem even more like a loyal hound then he usually does. Normally, this would give Geordi pause, but he thinks he might actually go crazy if he spends another second worrying about this.

“You heard what I said. Flowers. When someone gives you flowers, what does that mean?”

Riker actually groans. “Not you too. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I am not here to give anyone relationship advice. I am not sleeping with the captain, and no it is not any of your business.”

That’s more like what Geordi was expecting Riker to have said to Data. “Data asked you if you were sleeping with the Captain?”

“No, Deanna- wait, what are we talking about?”

“What are you talking about? I just want to know what it means when you get anonymous flowers from your best friend and he doesn’t ever talk to you about it.”

“It’s hardly anonymous if he hands them to you on the bridge in front of everyone and people keep asking you about it.”

“What if he leaves them in front of your quarters without so much as a note?”

Riker looks Geordi up and down with far too much of Deanna Troi in his eyes and says, “This is a conversation we shouldn’t be having where everyone can hear.”

An hour and a half later, Geordi emerges from Commander Riker- Will’s quarters, knowing way more about the man’s subconscious, his relationships with Troi and Captain Picard, and his fears about being unloved, than he has ever wanted to know about anyone, ever. Except maybe Data. He also emerges with one critical piece of information. When Data had asked Riker- Will - about the flowers, he hadn’t asked about it as a matter of scientific enquiry and been told to experiment. Data had asked if he should give a flower to someone he was interested in, and Will had told him to give a flower to whoever he wanted.

And then Data had given not one, but several to him. Excellent. While speaking to Riker had provided him with some of what had to have been some of the greatest gossip in Starfleet history since Captain Kirk, it hadn’t given Geordi any long-term relief from his love-life worries. And they were love-life worries. If Riker had shown him anything, it was that.

“Geordi?”

Oh, shit.

“Hey, Data.”

“Geordi, I am somewhat confused.”

“About?”

“I have given you flowers, and you have not in any way spoken to me about this. Were you not aware that they were a gift from me?”

Don’t face palm. Don’t do it. Don’t. It’s not his fault he doesn’t know how you feel.

Perhaps it’s time to take a page out of Commander- Will’s book. “This is not a public conversation, Data.”

They walk in history’s worst silence to Geordi’s quarters. For a moment, they even stand inside in silence, and it is painful. Data has a unique ability to say a great deal without saying anything, and boy is he saying a lot now.

“Data- “

“Geordi, I- “

And Geordi can’t help it, he bursts out laughing. God help him. Data waits, looking concerned, for Geordi’s giggles to subside.

“Please, continue what you were going to say.”

“Data, you never explained what the flowers were for. I may be clever, but I’m not Counsellor Troi. I can’t tell what you’re feeling unless you tell me.”

“Geordi, I do not-“

“Data.”

Is this going to become a thing between them, this name repeating? He knows it’s just the way Data’s speech patterns work, but sometimes he almost has to wonder if Data does it because he knows the way Data saying his name makes Geordi’s heart catch in his throat. Like listening to music swelling at the climax of a great film, or seeing someone you love after a long time away. It’s heartbreaking, to think that Data doesn’t - won’t - can’t feel the same way for him.

“Can I hold your hand?”

And for a second Geordi freezes. He’s sure that the words hanging in the space between them must be his. He thinks, ‘oh god, I’ve done it now. I’ve said it. I wasn’t supposed to say it. I was supposed to keep that secret until I died’, and then-

“I am sorry if this request has made you uncomfortable, Geordi-“

Geordi grabs Data’s hand so quickly that if Data didn’t weigh four times what a normal man of his stature did, he would definitely have pulled the both of them over. As things are, however, Data is able to compensate for Geordi’s impulsive motion, and keeps them both upright.

There’s another momentary silence now, but this one doesn’t feel empty. It feels warm. Like being wrapped in a quilt. Geordi is intellectually aware that his heart is still pounding, but mostly he’s aware of Data’s hand on his. Hands now. They’re holding both hands, when did that happen? It’s so… soft. Geordi doesn’t think he’s ever loved anyone more than he loves Data in this moment.

“I’d like to kiss you, very much.” And this is Geordi this time, breaking the silence, only this time it doesn’t shatter. It just moves in to cradle them tighter.

“I would also enjoy that,” says Data, in that almost-whisper of his.

And when they lean in to do just that, Geordi thinks he might actually understand why people are so obsessed with giving little kindnesses to those they love.


End file.
